Healthy Breakfast/Lunch Place in Cleveland!

So I've always wanted to open my own breakfast/lunch place in my area because it's so lacking in a really good, healthy breakfast place. I am a huge believe in using fresh fruit and vegetables, healthy ingredients, to make amazing food. While I was down in Columbus visiting friends we went to have breakfast at a place called the Northstar Cafe. It was very refreshing knowing that a company in Columbus is purchasing locally, organically grown fresh produce and utilizes sustainable, environmentally-friendly business living (down to the staff t-shirts). Let me tell you, it's amazing food. We also stopped at a place called Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams. She buys local, organic ingredients and keeps the environment in mind as well. Once again, a phenomenal product!! They also donate money to Veggie U, a local farm that educates children on growing a eating vegetables.

So here's my question, why does it take certain areas to produce these type of businesses. You know you can get this business in San Francisco, CA, or Boulder, CO, or Seattle, CA, or Portland, OR, or Asheville, NC, or apparently now in Columbus, OH. But why can't you get them in Cleveland, OH? I know there are some business around our area, such as Lucky's Cafe in Tremont, but there's not enough in my opinion.

You know, at some point in my future I will realize my goal of a breakfast/lunch place in Brecksville, Ohio that has fresh/healthy options for those who are interested in eating local, organic meals that taste amazing!!!

~B

Enjoying Summer :)

I'm so happy to have the sun out (almost) every day this summer! Clevelanders are actually smiling and trying to remain positive, outside of the whole LeBron thing. SO far, my summer's been going really well. I finished up nine credit hours of school work to lighten up my school load for the last year. Decisions have finally been made as to my future, been in between just working or going on for my doctorate. The doctorate decision was made, and I'm not taking the steps to ensure that I will be a great candidate. I finished my patio by adding a storage bench and two new conversation chairs!
Also, I got my herbs to grow again... last year they died because I was too busy wedding planning than herb growing :) This year I have cilantro, rosemary, thyme, dill, curly parsley, flat parsley, basil, chives and lavender. They smell amazing! Also, since classes are wrapped up, I'm back to focusing on my diet and fitness schedule. My husband and I joined Ballys two months ago and just haven't found a great routine on getting to the gym. However, I have the next five weeks off so we're hoping to get something cemented that gets us both at least an hour workout three times per week. This morning I had some yogurt with fruit, raw oatmeal and cinnamon. MMmm, it was perfect! Fingers crossed, I would like to maintain this healthy diet moving into next year. My problem is the preplanning of food. It's really hard to think of what you'll be in the mood to eat the next day... and then wake up early enough to cook it! But we're also house hunting right now so any way to save money is good enough for us!

All in all, as typical, I have a lot of things up in the air but I finally have a positive attitude and feel like it will all get accomplished when it's meant too. So all I have to say is Yeah! Sunshine!!!!

Easter Break Update

So over my Easter break my husband and I finally got our place looking like it ought to – we have a couple of little things left to do, but it feels so much better. It's amazing what a little spring cleaning can do for you. I went through my mail, and shredded the large amount of junk that I get. If anyone has any ideas on how to get our mailing system to flow better, I'm up for advice!

Other good news, my husband and I went grocery shopping and have been packing our lunches every day! It normally consists of a 100-calorie English muffin or coconut milk yogurt with fruit for breakfast; a sandwich with veggies & hummus, fruit, fresh cut veggies, & baked pita chips for lunch; and hot tea with small dark chocolate or popcorn for a snack. I’m going to say that I feel very proud of us!

The bad news, unfortunately, we have been attacked by Asian lady beetles… so gross. So we can’t open our windows or sliding door for fear of further infestation. Terminex is coming by on the 15th to spray, and I really hope that helps! We also are on the verge of getting our taxes filed, so that’s a relief! Also, I haven’t been working out to my fullest potential yet. I need to start getting on the ball and do something every day, so hopefully I can get motivated! And on that note, I’m just not on the ball this semester with my homework. Really, I’m not sure what the problem is (other than burn out), but my lack of motivation is really beginning to get me down! My husband said that when I get this stressed I can find any excuse for self-sabotaging, so hopefully I can not do that and become accomplished and knock his pants off!

You know what I need? A personal assistant!!!

Gardens/Backyard Dreams

So while my husband and I are not really looking for a new home just yet, now that the Cleveland weather is ooooohhhh so nice, I'm daydreaming of what my dream backyard would look like. Some blogs have posted some great ideas - including A CUP OF JO and La-di-da - and I can always look to a Pottery Barn catalog as well for some great inspiration!

I am just a garden type of girl, and if I could have my property framed in with trees and have carte blanche to do what I want with my backyard, you could imagine that it would look something like this:













Realizing that's a lot of pictures - I would want the elements of fire, water, earth, and air located in the garden. I would want lush greenery with a spot for my herbs, vegetables, and fruit - and a major section dedicated to entertaining, relaxing, and a spot for future children to play :)

One can always hope - right???

B

Spring To-Do List :)

Generally, I am an organized person. I have everything I need to get done listed in some to-do list just waiting to be crossed off. After Christmas though, and certainly after my wedding, I started to get to-do-itis and no longer care about getting things accomplished. I was burned out!!! I’ve been on vacation since then, and it’s definitely made things worse. However, the sun’s out again. The snow is gone. My clothes aren’t fitting well and my place is a mess.

It’s spring cleaning time! I have a five day break and I’m going to clean the tubs & showers and bathroom floors, the refrigerator/freezer and the kitchen floor & scrub the rest of the apartment (and our laundry) clean. Oh, I can’t wait to turn off the heat and open all the windows!!! I swear things are going to get accomplished.

The most important thing is to finish all my homework for this semester, including finalizing my qualitative research report so that I can apply for speaking opportunities. I also want to follow up with my practicum/internship site to set up a lunch with my supervisor to calm my nerves about counseling people – for real!

I also need to GO THROUGH MY MAIL. I need to see what events I missed that I didn’t RSVP for, and apologize to friends for lacking in the friend department. Also, now is the time for me to get back on a working out schedule and start pre-planning my meals (groceries shopping) so that I can finally lose the 13 pounds that have been plaguing my ass!!! I also am still itching to do something creative - like knitting, drawing, or photography. Hopefully I can get it accomplished over the summer when I have time.

Other things that I want to get accomplish file our taxes so that I can apply for financial aid, get my external hard drive to On Track Data Recovery to see if I can get my data back, get my husband’s website up, and I want to get together all my clutter items to sell on Craigslist & eBay. Also, I want to send my wedding invitation & fall leaves to my photographer because I forgot to have pictures taken for my wedding album. On that topic, I also have to file the paperwork to legally change my name.

Wow, no wonder I’ve been avoiding to-do lists! I’m already stressed out again. Oh well, give me a glass of wine and some fruit, I’ll get it all accomplished somehow.

Thanks for your support!
B

A Little Gray....

Right at this very minute I am feeling a bit overwhelmed with school, work, life, etc. However, I do want to note that it’s a gray day today, and I’m nearly 80% certain that I suffer from seasonal affective disorder! The only highlight of my day is looking through the blogs that I follow. These men/women are so creative and thought inspiring.

Today’s blog, in particular, is really a kudos to A CUP OF JO’s blog, and I thought I would share some cool things from her blog recently!

When I was planning my wedding last year, I was watching an episode of Whose Wedding Is It Anyway? and I thought this designers 8x8 flower wall was amazing. http://www.eventergonomics.com/floral.html Just recently her blog shared another designer who is selling these vertical gardens! Now I am all about helping the environment and being eco-friendly, so I wanted to share that they have a do-it-yourself kit for purchase. Check it out here

Also, I am noting another one of her post’s sharing photographer Paul Octavious collection of photographs that he take over the past 2 years of a place he calls "the hill." Each time he came to find a new story as he describes “is told to me as if the hill is my stage and the locals are the actors in this daily play.”





Finally, A CUP OF JO recommended my next summer read! It’s called Eat, Memory, and it's a collection of 26 essays that originally appeared in the New York Times Magazine, connecting to foreign places and familiar people through tastes and smells. She recommends it as something fun and yummy. :)


Thanks again to A CUP OF JO for sharing so many interesting things. I hope by the end of this summer, you’ll be looking for one of my blogs for inspirations!

Family Portrait

As I have been getting older, I have begun to appreciate my family more and more. Through an intense interest in genealogy, and constant questioning of my family as to where we have come from, I have recently begun to uncover where my family is from via Ancestory.com. Within 24 hours, looking through Census forms dating back to the 1800s, birth and death records, marriage records, articles, etc., I traced back eight generations on my father’s side and five generations on my mother’s side! I feel so enlightened already knowing the occupations of my ggg grandparents and I can almost imagine what life was like for them back then!

Honestly, I feel like I’m understanding where I come from better and I feel like hopefully that will help me understand even more about myself. And eventually when my husband and I start a family of our own, it would be awesome to be able to tell our children more about where they came from! One note of warning though…. Ancestory.com is very addicting. You could sign on first thing in the morning and stay on it for 24 hours without realizing it!

I’ll keep you updated on anything fun and new that comes from this!
Thanks to MadeByGirl for the photo!

Out of Hybernation!

Dear my few readers,

It’s been a couple weeks since I’ve posted anything and I apologize for that! Things have been overwhelming my mind – such as weather, school, life, etc. – and I’ve been hibernating as a result. Thank God the sun has finally come out though! The weather in Ohio is slowly turning to spring, and as a result I feel so much better. I’m starting to get outside more, and walk, and eventually will try to be eating right again :) For those of you following my detox – the only thing I’ve stuck with is free of coffee! Hey, it’s something, right?

Also, I have had some time to look through blogs that I am a fan of and I thought I would share some of the images from them that inspired me and made me feel even better. A BIG thanks to the following blogs for sharing these pictures: MadeByGirl, ACUPOFJO, All Things Lovely, a Friend to knit, A blonde walks into a blog…, and anyone else I may have forgotten!! You don’t know how much better I felt when looking through your blogs.

Have a great day!

Wedding Bouquet Made With Handmade Flowers

I love these flowers! What a great idea :)
Wedding Bouquet Made With Handmade Flowers

Day Seven of "Detox 4 Women"

Alright – I can actually say that I’m kind of finding the detox to be a little easier. In the mornings I’m eating Coconut Milk yogurt (which is super tasty) and a Larabar (equally as tasty). That way I’m getting in some non-dairy calcium and fruit. Then for lunch I have a baked potato with a salad (but I’m going to admit that I really am not wanting a salad for lunch.) Actually, I’m kinda really getting sick of salads!!! Then for dinner I have some cooked veggies with a fish and some fruit or coconut milk ice cream for dessert.

Tonight we’re going to P.F. Changs for dinner and (with some help from Weight Watchers as well), I’ve pre-planned my meal that will take a slight break from the detox in order to eat chicken and brown rice, but it will still keep my calories and fat within the context of healthy eating.

Updates, I’m still dairy-free, bad grain-free on weekdays, and caffeine-free; although my hormones are still a bit screwy from my outpatient surgery and so I’m tired, craving cookies and sweets, and sick of veggies. So we’ll see how long this detox will last this week!!!

Thanks for the support guys/gals!!!

Days Three-Six of "Detox 4 Women"

Confession time – I admit that Valentine’s weekend may have not been the best weekend to detox! And by admitting that, I’m admitting to you that I didn’t do much detoxing this weekend. Actually, I did keep clean of caffeine!!! That’s all I can say though….

I got up this morning and did the body brushing from the detox & ate pretty well, if I do say so myself. My husband and I agree that we’re going to try to maintain a vegetarian lifestyle during the week and save our indulgences for the weekend. It’s really hard for us to maintain a work-out schedule though! Hopefully we can get a routine together soon, because we both feel so much better when working out!

We also went to a natural grocery store and bought things to keep the dairy detox going – such as Coconut Milk, coconut milk yogurt, goat’s milk ice cream and goat’s milk cheese. We also bought wheat grass for our dog – and he loves it! Mind you, he’d love anything that didn’t resemble dog food! We also bought some Larabar’s – which are surprisingly delicious!!! I ate one with my yogurt this morning and it was a very filling breakfast.

Bottom line - am I disappointed in myself that I couldn’t keep the detox going – yes – but I also came to the realization that I need to love myself for how I look now and stop beating myself up so much! I’m in my normal BMI and am pretty healthy as I am. Anything I do is just going to improve my muscles and energy level.

I hope you all had a great Valentine’s Day!!!

Day Two of “Detox 4 Women”

Day Two of "Detox 4 Women" - I need bread! I woke up this morning with the shakes and I thought I was going to pass out… what a way to start the day! I went to the kitchen and kept thinking “I can’t eat another vegetable, I can’t eat another vegetable”…and grabbed the first thing I could eat (a banana) and the rest of last nights dark chocolate bar. I followed them up with chugging a 16.9 oz bottle of water. It did the trick, but on the way to work I kept gagging at the thought of drinking the carrot juice because I need FOOD! …. So after the shaky feeling started to come back while at work (even after drinking another bottle of water), I went against my better judgment and bought myself an egg & turkey sausage sandwich (NO CHEESE) on whole grain bread– but I only ate 1 slice of the whole grain bread with all the egg and turkey sausage. Ah. I feel so much better!!!!

So then I let my stomach settle, kept drinking my water so that I could take my Probiotic supplements and vitamins. Do I feel guilty that I haven’t had a vegetable yet, including no juice and it’s almost lunchtime – yes – but I also know I have a salmon and steamed broccoli for lunch, and I’ll try… TRY to drink ½ a bottle of carrot juice for my mid-day snack. Hopefully I didn’t sabotage the detox with the bread, turkey sausage & banana…. But I’m still getting the hang of it. I think my body reallllllly needs whole grain bread though.

So I ate my salmon and steamed broccoli, and some pieces of a 60% dark chocolate bar that my boss gave me for Valentine’s Day… and I feel SO guilty!!! This is Day Two and I’ve already cheated a couple times. Where is my will power?!?!? Then I discovered that I've been HAD!!! It wasn't 60% dark chocolate bar, it was a 60% dc shell... meaning the insides were gooey and delicious - but very, VERY against the detox. I basically ate my ENTIRE day of fat in one bar... great.

I’m planning on eating a big salad for dinner (maybe with some chicken to keep me from getting the shakes again the morning…) and I definitely am aiming to do Yoga tonight!!! Tomorrow I’m heading to the grocery store to pick up some coconut milk products, and some ‘living grain’ breads so that I can keep with the detox, but without the shakes :)

** Please note: My husband is trying this detox with me - and although he hasn't been drinking vegetable juice because we haven't had time to juice yet, he's done much better on the detox than me. He also has a sinus infection, and therefore no appetite, but still!!! ***

Day One of “Detox 4 Women”

Day 1 of “Detox 4 Women” – I’m tired! I’ve only been at this for four hours and I just want to crawl under the desk and go to bed. Too much to do today though, so I won’t be in bed until I get home tonight! I was supposed to wake up this morning and do yoga, body brushing, and drink 1 liter of water. I woke up late, drank 1 bottle of 16.9 fl oz of water, and didn’t have time to juice this morning so I stopped at the grocery store and bought an Odwalla 100% Pure Pressed Carrot Juice. Let me tell you it’s hard for someone who isn’t 100% into eating vegetables to drink 100% Pure Pressed Carrot Juice! My gag reflex was in full effect upon the first couple sips, but right now I’m ½ way through the 15.2 fl oz and I switched to herbal tea until I could wake up enough to finish the juice!

Maybe Day 1 didn’t start off that great, as I need to work out, body brush, and drink another bottle of water at some point this morning, and finish the other ½ of my carrot juice! But hey, I AM drinking carrot juice instead of eating a bagel, and drinking herbal tea instead of coffee…. So that’s a start, right??? Also, I made myself a big salad for lunch with spinach, grated zucchini and carrots, mushrooms, cucumbers, tomatoes, quinoa, onions, and olive oil. I know that I will be STARVING after that though. I wish I would have grabbed a baked potato or soup – that would have really curbed my appetite this afternoon. Hindsight!

Tonight I had salmon with spinich salad, a salad, and a couple pieces of my dark chocolate bar – yes! I didn't squeeze in yoga tonight because by the time I got out of class I had such a headache, from no coffee and bread I'm sure, and I was exhausted! I came home and went straight to bed.

All-in-all, I'd say Day 1 was a success!

“Detox 4 Women” lifestyle by Natalia Rose

Hello my few blog viewers! Today I started the “Detox 4 Women” lifestyle by Natalia Rose who also wrote the “Raw Food Detox Diet.” From the reviews that I read, they are very similar though – with the goal being to detox my body from yeast (yellow-light starches and sugars) by eating organic-all natural raw foods like vegetables and low-sugar fruits, and fish, eggs, and natural grains like millet, quinoa, and buckwheat. Yes, I can also have wine and dark chocolate.

Why, do you ask? (As many people have asked!) I’ve always wanted to be healthy – and while I’m a healthier version of the person I was a couple years ago, I’m not where near the healthiest version of myself that I can be. I’ll also admit, I’m a person who holds stress/anxiety in my body, and as a result I feel bloated, tired, no energy, etc. Since I’m sick of feeling that way, there’s yet another reason to detox. I can control my diet and fitness, and resolve the physical symptoms that I’ve been feeling. And there’s no better reason to start now!

So for the next four weeks I’m going to document the detox… hopefully after week one I’ll start feeling the results!!!

Hello friends - I am recovering from an outpatient surgery I had yesterday and I needed a little sunshine through my bloating and dull pain. I thought that I'd share a picture that I borrowed from A CUP OF JO's blog, because it made me smile! I wish there were small flower shops like this by me! Can't you just smell them right now!?!?



Things having been going well for me in 2010, my husband and I are knocking things off our to-do list, and I have been accomplishing things on mine as well. One thing that I'm still dying to do is utilize my new, used camera to take amazing photographs like those taken off my husband and I at our engagement shoot and wedding day. There are so many things to learn, it's almost overwhelming! I know that I have an eye for photography, or at least I'd like to think so, but I feel more comfortable capturing nature stills rather than people. I'd like to break through that barrier in 2010 and truly becoming comfortable behind a camera... here are some photos that I've taken over the years, please let me know what you think!